Page 116 of Running Winter

I opened my eyes to see someone staring down at us from the top floor of the house.

My blood turned to ice.

They were dressed entirely in black, with a ski mask covering their face.

In seconds I was out of the pool, barking at Raven to get dressed. I had a gun in my jacket hanging on a stool in the kitchen, and I grabbed it before stalking towards the stairs. I noticed the front door was ajar, and I made a quick decision, heading for the stairs.

If they were gone, then I needed to make sure. If they were still here, I was going to kill them.

I had been given orders.

The plush carpet met my damp feet, and I turned to glance up and down both ends of the hallway. It was vast, but I knew, given the window the intruder had been standing at and the time it would have taken to make it to the doorway, there was only one route they had to take, and that was where I had just come from. I stilled, my ears pricked for any movement.

Nothing.

I entered the room, noticing that it was Rafe's.

Nothing.

I left, checking each room along the way to find everything exactly as it should be.

Until I got to Raven's room.

The walls were covered in red marker, angry scrawls that called her a slut and a dead bitch. My stomach sank when I saw the pillows had been knifed, the mattress torn apart. I turned, heading directly for Raven, who was standing in the kitchen, an eerily calm expression on her face.

Where the fuck were Manny and Carlos?!

Raven followed me to the stairs, and I led her to her bedroom.

Raven stared around it silently before turning to me.

"Are they gone?"

I nodded as she glanced around the room.

"This seems personal."

"I only saw one person, but they were masked up. Shit, I should have been paying attention."

Raven smiled wryly and shrugged her slender shoulders.

"I’ll get this replaced today.” She sighed, scrutinizing the walls. "I need to speak to Manny about how the fuck they got in."

She dropped her robe, walking towards the shower as I stared after her.

Most women would have been terrified, but not Raven. If anything, she seemed pissed off.

"But first, can we finish what we started?"

Holy fuck.

I LOVE THIS COLOUR

R A V E N

I stared at the file that Alexei had dropped on the kitchen table while he stood formally awaiting my instruction. Alexei was my father's best hitman, and I trusted him with my life.

"She made out she was a friend of yours. So dumb and dumber let her in," Alexei confirmed quietly in his thick Italian accent.

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